This invention relates to a catalytic converter for use in vehicles, and more particularly, to a catalytic converter including a fluidized bed of catalytic material for converting poisonous elements in the exhaust from the vehicle into harmless materials.
Catalytic converters are utilized on late model vehicles for the purposes of removing poisonous elements, including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, from the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engines of the vehicles by converting the gases into harmless materials such as water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The converters are provided with a bed of catalytic material in pellet, or particulate, form which reacts with the exhaust gases as the latter pass through the material.
Late generation catalytic converters have utilized a dual bed arrangement in which one bed is disposed over the other. In these arrangements, the exhaust gases from the vehicle flow over and around a plurality of ceramic pellets in the upper chamber and then flow from the latter chamber, through a plurality of louvers, into a middle chamber where air from an engine driven pump pushes the gases through another set of louvers into a lower chamber. The lower chamber also contains pellets which are of a different composition than the upper chamber pellets and which are designed to convert any remaining hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide gases before they pass into atmosphere.
However, a major problem exists with the above arrangement, since the ceramic pellets in the upper chamber tend to split and fall through the upper louvers into the middle air chamber and plug up the lower louvers. This significantly retards exhaust gas flow and increases the exhaust system back pressure, resulting in a substantial loss of engine power.